


Why Can't We Just Be Us?

by goldistic



Series: The Bodyguard AU [1]
Category: Elite (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-16 13:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20823044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldistic/pseuds/goldistic
Summary: Guzman has been assigned a new position that he thinks he prepared for but when he meets Nadia and falls in love, surely there's nothing that can go wrong. Right?





	Why Can't We Just Be Us?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first off I don't know anything about Spanish politics so this is loosely based on the UK but not also, thank you to Ami for being amazing as always, please come and talk to me on twitter @guznad. Thank you for reading, its huge and took a lot of work, please don't hate me,

  
  
Guzman rests his head against the clear glass lift as it makes its way up to the top floor. He had been called over the weekend for an emergency meeting Monday morning. He looked out the glass as he watched himself get higher. His mind was occupied by whatever he was about to face, even though he’s pretty sure it's not going to be anything good. If he’s going to be honest, Guzman usually tried to avoid coming into the office because it never meant good news. He looks up to see the receptionist smile as he walked over to them. He stands by the reception desk and looks side to side before leaning over.

“How bad?” He asks, eyebrows raised and tongue peeking out slightly. 

“I’m not sure,” they replied softly. There’s a little smile on their face which Guzman knows is a hint for when they’re lying to him. 

“Now Jonah, I know you’re not telling me the truth,” Guzman laughed slightly, tapping on the desk and standing straighter. “If you’re not going to tell me, I’m not going to tell you that bit of information you’ve been wanting.”

“Guzman!” Jonah gasped, their hand to their chest as they digested what Guzman had just said to them, “There is no way you would keep that from me!”

“I guess the two of us will never know.” Guzman winks as he heard the glass door open, he turns to see his friend and boss standing there. 

“If you’re done flirting, Guzman.” Ander said, turning so Guzman knows he has to follow him “Come on in.” 

Guzman winks at Jonah before following the taller man into his office. Guzman’s back straightened as he entered and noticed that the office was occupied by two other people, a man and a woman in all black. Guzman sat down, watching the room carefully. 

  


“Mr Nunier,” The woman spoke and Guzman turned his attention to her. 

“Please, call me Guzman” He interrupted before she could continue, she nodded her head and continued. 

“We’ve called this meeting because we have a job offer that we all think you might be best suited for.” She pulled out a file that had been tucked away in her bag. “We’ve been doing our research on you.”

She opened the page to where Guzman can see the photo of him in the corner, all the work he has done was listed down the side; his qualifications were there as well. Guzman could tell you word for word what was in the file, what he didn’t understand was why she was showing it to him. He looked up to her, 

“While this is all very nice, I don’t think you’re here to talk about what I’ve done and how I achieved it” Guzman sounded annoyed even to his own ears. He narrowed his eyes at the group around him. “So why don’t we cut the bullshit and tell me why you really need me? From the looks of it, it’s something serious. Because why else would the head of the police force and I’m sorry...” Guzman points to the man hunched in the corner looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but that room, “I don’t know either of you.”

“I didn’t expect you would,” The guy walked forward, “My name is Omar Shana but you’re more likely to know my sister more than me.” 

“I’m Lucrecia, the head of staff to the Prime Minister” Lu introduced herself, she stuck her hand out for Guzman to shake, he did slowly as he started to put the pieces together. Why was the brother of the Prime Minister standing ten feet away from him? He looked over to his friend who was too busy looking at Omar to notice Guzman’s stare. Guzman turns his head back to Omar, he took a deep breath and asked, 

“Now what in the world are Prime Minister Shana’s brother and her head of staff doing in a room with me?” Guzman had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer. 

“We have a problem, Guzman” This time it was Ander who spoke, he crossed his legs and leaned further back into the chair. “And it appears that you might be the only person who can help us”

“What is it?”

“We’ve been having an issue” Lu answered, moving to pull out the iPad by her side. “I don’t know if you’ve been watching the news but our current Prime Minister is having some difficulty keeping a Head of security. We’ve been through all the best in the country and well, don’t take this the wrong way, but,” Guzman shrugged at the words, “You’re our last hope.”

  


It was a rainy Thursday morning when Guzman met Nadia. She stood out in a room full of people who looked extremely important. Guzman stands with his back to the door and his arms crossed behind him. Guzman is mesmerized with how she is able to keep everyone’s attention. He notices how people are able to keep up with how fast she is going, Guzman feels a little overwhelmed when he looks around the room, feeling like he shouldn’t be in a room full of the country’s most powerful people; but he isn’t here to be tested on his knowledge, he’s only here to protect. 

Guzman watches the moment that Nadia notices that he is in the room. It's a subtle thing that happened; it’s one of those moments where if you’re not paying attention, you will miss it. Guzman takes note of this, while Nadia pauses for a split second before continuing to talk to the group. She licks her lips then carries on with the rest of the meeting. He isn’t sure why he agreed to take this on, but he was sure as hell glad that he did. 

Standing with his shoulders square, Guzman prepared for the meeting to come to an end. 

“Thank you all for coming here today,” Prime Minister Shana starts, sitting straight in her swivel chair. She looks around the room, making eye contact with every head cabinet member of her party. “I think these ideas will help calm some tension between the UK and Spain” There was a slight murmur. “I know it isn’t the most ideal solution that we can come up with, and that there are other things that need to be done, but at least we’d have something to offer,” 

“I will see you all in a week’s time.” 

The doors behind Guzman opened, and everyone started to file out of the room, except for Omar who still sat in the corner of the room behind a laptop. 

“Now,” Guzman looked over to the Prime Minister, she stood in the same place but this time with her arms folded over her chest, she was inspecting him carefully. “Omar, do you care to explain who this is?”

Omar clears his throat before standing up. “This is Guzman, he is your new head of security.” 

“Is that so?”

“Lu and I searched hard for this one Nadia” Omar moved from behind his desk, Nadia turned her attention to her brother. “We worked with Ander on who would be the best, Ander promised that Guzman was the best in the business.” 

“Well, if that is the case, why wasn’t he brought in the first time around?” Nadia pursed her lips and scanned his file. 

“He was on a well-deserved break,” Omar said, he looked over to Guzman who had yet to say a word. “Ander said he works more on undercover operations, hardly ever at home.”

“Ander seems to be saying a lot of things without telling me anything” Nadia quipped back, and turned around to face Guzman. “Do you have anything to say?”

“You haven’t asked me a question, ma’am” Guzman kept his eyes on the wall behind him, not once looking at the siblings.

“Oh! He has jokes,” Nadia mused, she walked towards him. “I apologise, can you tell me your name?”

“Guzman, Ma’am” Guzman replied. 

“Do you like working in the police force?” Nadia asked, resting against the table. She was watching him closely.

“I do, Ma’am”

“You don’t say much, do you?” Nadia observed. She was curious about him. The man stood in the background, he had never once let his eyes trail away from the wall and even though she knew her questioning was annoying he never let on that he was annoyed. Strange, Nadia thinks, she hasn’t had one bodyguard that held himself in such a high standard. Sure, the others had been good but there was a reason they never lasted. Nadia was aware she could be hard work, but she had to work hard to get to this position. She did not become the first Muslim Prime Minister of Spain just so people could walk all over her, she could not have any weak links.

“I’m not here to talk, Ma’am,” Guzman explained, “I’m only here to protect you”

Nadia raised her eyebrows, she was impressed. There were very few people in the world who could keep up with her, it was refreshing to see someone who wasn’t so easily intimidated by her.

“Omar, make sure you link Guzman’s iCloud with ours” Nadia started to collect her things, as she packed she spoke to Guzman. 

“I’m always on the move, so I need you to always be on the move,” Nadia said, she took her glasses off and placed them in the case “Where I go, I need you to be right there where I can easily find you. If you need a family day, you have to tell me at least two weeks beforehand. I understand life does not always work that way, I know sometimes things happen that people aren’t prepared for. But you’re here and you know how important this job is for you, so I won't explain it in detail because I assume you’re a smart guy.” Nadia looked at him waiting for a reply, and for the first time, Guzman looked back at her. She took this as him agreeing to what she just said.

Nadia has finished putting her stuff away, placed her bag on her shoulder and started to walk towards the door.

Guzman raised his hand to speak to his comms, “Sunflower is on the move” 

Nadia paused, narrowing her eyes as she listened to Guzman’s code name for her. She knew Guzman was going to fit right in. Neither of them just how well he would fit in with them. 

  


_ Two _ months had passed with ease, Guzman had settled in well enough to be able to make small talk with the rest of the security detail. He knew who had kids and who was sleeping with who, but Guzman was not there to judge, he was only there to protect the Prime Minister. The longer he was at work, the more he seemed confused as to why so many were unable to keep the job. He truly didn’t understand, but not that he was complaining, because it might’ve been the easiest job Guzman ever had.

He enjoys watching Nadia work. She takes no shit and will tell whoever it is she is dealing with that they’re being unreasonable. Guzman’s favourite time with Nadia is when she was on international calls, the way he had to listen to men talk down at her and explain things to her that she can explain better ten times over. Guzman wanted to know how she hadn’t cursed them out yet; today was especially intense since Nadia had just held an international conference on Climate Change held in New York.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Nadia interrupted Guzman’s thoughts. He turned around to face her. It was the first time he had looked at her in weeks, Nadia couldn’t help feeling the electricity coursing through her veins whenever he made eye contact with her. 

“What is it, Ma’am?” Guzman asks curiously.

“You’re thinking why I let them speak to me the way I do.” Nadia stared at him, and he probably has the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. “Well, there are battles that I will fight tooth and nail for and there are battles where I think I can save my energy for something more important.”

“The way they talk to you,” Guzman started, but Nadia waved her hand to cut him off.

“Is wrong,” She smiled at him as they’re making their way towards the exit. “But I have to battle every day with the way people talk to me because I am a female but also because I am a Muslim. So I will pick when I defend myself against men who think they know best.”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s very fair, Ma’am” Guzman argued.

The doors opened and Guzman stepped out first to see if there were any threats. He looked at the guard who had been on the lookout, shook his head and spoke into his earpiece. Nadia couldn’t help but admire how strong his jaw looked from the side and stops her train of thought before it could get any further. “This way, Ma’am, there is no press outside. We’re clear to go.”

They walked out into the street where Nadia’s driver stood with the door open, Guzman scanned the car quickly before allowing Nadia to step in. “All clear.” 

They made their way back to The Palace of Moncloa, and never finished the conversation about how men treated Nadia. Guzman allowed himself the time to think about how entitled the men on the phone sounded. He suddenly wanted to protect Nadia from all the evils in the world. In that moment he made a promise to himself that if there was a way, no matter how small, he would defend her. Then there was a beeping from the back of the car, Nadia sighed as she looked down at the phone in her hand.

“Looks like the EU want to meet up next Wednesday to discuss what will happen after the thirty first of October when the UK leaves,” Nadia told Guzman, his brain scanned all the upcoming appointments that were in the diary. 

“Ma’am, you have a personal day” Guzman informed Nadia. 

“I do” She muttered, eyes still on the screen of her phone, she quickly types out something “I might have to rearrange. Can’t keep Europe on hold just because of a personal day.”

“No, you can’t Ma’am” 

Six days later, Guzman found himself on a plane to Brussels, he sat opposite Nadia and allowed himself to look at her. She’s wearing her glasses again as she reads whatever Lu had passed her before the flight took off, she’s wearing a teal hijab and Guzman thought about how it brought out the tones of her skin like no other colour, he decided right there and then that teal was made for Nadia and Nadia alone. He watched as she plays with the pen, bringing it to her lips and back down again; she was beautiful in a classic way, Guzman thought, he knew she was not defined by her beauty, but Guzman couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wanted to see what she looked like when she woke up in the morning. Guzman paused, he looked around the plane to see if anyone knew what he was thinking about. There was no way he could ever go down that route, Nadia was the Prime Minister of Spain and Guzman has been hired to help protect her, not to sleep with her, even if she has been haunting his dreams a lot more. 

“You’re staring,” Nadia’s voice cut through his thoughts. 

“Sorry, Ma’am” Guzman apologises, shuffling in his seat at the embarrassment of being caught. 

“It’s fine” Nadia sniffed, putting down her pen and taking off her glasses, she looked up at him. “Do you have something on your mind?”

Guzman thought about how he wanted to ask her if she believed in love, but that felt inappropriate. So he took a more innocent route. 

“Why did you want to be Prime Minister, Ma’am” It’s a loaded question, Guzman had the trouble of not thinking before asking. He could feel Nadia’s tension before he’s even finished asking the question. 

“I did it to shut everyone who told me a girl like me wouldn’t be anywhere near the steps of The Palace of Moncloa” Nadia looked lost in thought as she spoke, Guzman wanted to fight everyone who told Nadia she couldn’t be anything she wanted. “I did it mainly for me, I did it because I wanted to better the society that we live in, to give children, adults, anyone who cared a fighting chance of having something good.” 

“I think you have done a wonderful job of shutting up the haters, Ma’am” Guzman leaned forward to look at Nadia, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke every word. He wanted her to know he meant it; that he wasn’t just saying it she was his boss. 

Nadia stares at him, her heartbeat going faster than ever as she soaks in everything that he had just told her. She wanted to kiss him but tells herself to stop straight away. They don’t speak for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. 

“You can call me Nadia,” Nadia stated softly as she disturbed their silence. 

“Okay Ma’am” 

_ After _ that trip, Guzman and Nadia found themselves speaking more. Nadia found out that Guzman had a younger sister who he loved but caused him nothing but trouble. She knew he would do anything for the ones he loved, she could tell when he’s worked up over something; when a plan wasn’t going right. Nadia knew more than anything when he let his gaze slip and move over her body like it was just the two of them in the room. She was picking up his habit of rolling his eyes when she said something he didn’t agree with, Omar commented once that they’d been spending a lot of time together and she had to hush her older brother because the last thing she needed to deal with was a rumour she fancied the head of her security. But as the days passed, Nadia knew all she wanted to do was to end the day with him, he was the first person she saw in the morning and the last person she saw at night. He was taking over her senses that sometimes she found herself daydreaming about him when she should’ve been listening to budget meetings. Nadia couldn’t help but thank Lu, Omar and Ander for bringing Guzman into her life; she didn’t think she’d met anyone like him before. 

It was all going so well until it wasn’t. 

“It’s not safe” Guzman was standing in front of her desk yelling at her about an upcoming trip that Nadia had planned in her books well before Guzman had even come on the scene. She was getting frustrated at the conversation.

“Of course it’s safe!” Nadia argued, pushing her chair back and standing tall. She will not be looked down on. Especially not by a man, Guzman or not. 

“There have been protests about you since the moment you mentioned that trip” Guzman spat, he’s letting his anger get the best of him, he knew that, but she wasn’t listening. 

“There is always going to be something Guzman!” Nadia yelled back, how she wished they could have gone back in time to when this wasn’t happening. She was watching his face get red, she didn’t think she had ever seen him so angry; it was like a ripple effect. The more he got angry the more she did and all she wanted to do was end this so she could have a moments peace. 

“That isn’t an excuse to put yourself in more danger!” Guzman started to wave his hands around, Nadia moved out from behind her desk to face him properly. 

“I’ve been doing this for a long time!” Nadia yelled back, her heart was racing. 

“And I’ve been protecting people longer, I know how this goes!” 

“Why are you so worked over this?” Nadia yelled back as all the anger fell out of Guzman face and body. 

“Because you’re not thinking clearly!” Guzman moved closer to her, Nadia stood tall, she refused to back down on something she felt so strongly about. Guzman had to know that Nadia would never back from a challenge, she looked at him. 

“You do not ever get to suggest that I am not thinking clearly.” Nadia’s voice was low, her anger had turned into something ugly. She wanted him out of her sight, she turned away from him. “You can see yourself out” 

“Nadia” Guzman spoke softly, feet shuffling towards her. Nadia puts her hand out to stop him. 

“You know it’s Ma’am” Nadia spoke, voice threatening to waver as Guzman stood still. “You will address me as such”

“Okay Ma’am” Guzman replied, both of them stood in the office heartbreaking but there was nothing they could do. 

Days pass quickly leading up the event, much to Guzman’s dislike Nadia still went ahead with the trip. He drove down to the part of the city she was visiting to make sure there were no obvious sites that could be hidden from them. Everything looked easy but Guzman didn’t become the best because things looked easy. Telling his team to leave the route the car would take, the exact times it will be where it was supposed to be, they went through the event over and over again and Guzman knew it was driving his team insane but things had to go seamlessly because he could not and would not risk anything happening to Nadia. 

“Boss” Guzman turned to see Polo walking towards him. 

“Yes?” 

“We’ve done this ten times in a row” Polo started, Guzman narrowed his eyes at him “I know you’re worried about it but we’ve got everything covered and the Prime Minister doesn’t seem too worried about visiting here either.”

“I know” Guzman grunts, kicking his feet slighting, thinking about how Nadia hasn’t spoken to properly in two days. Only communicating with him via Omar, which was more than annoying because he had to deal with questions from him as well as Ander on why the Prime Minister of Spain had stopped communicating with her head of security; he could hardly tell them they were fighting over something stupid just because she wouldn’t listen to him and he felt threatened which was ridiculous in itself. Guzman thought they had started to become something of friends, Nadia had told him to call her by her first name, they had spoken about their childhoods when it was just the two of them in a room. Guzman couldn’t really believe how he had fucked up so badly simply because he wouldn’t listen to her. He knew there was another reason he was so worried about this trip but he didn’t have the time to think about that now. “But we’re going to go through every possible outcome until I’m satisfied, understood?”

“Yes boss,” Polo walked away towards the group of staff hovering in the corner, maybe Guzman was being over the top but Nadia wasn’t and he had a feeling that felt weird about this whole trip since she had announced it four months ago. After twenty more minutes Guzman shouted, 

“Alright, let's wrap it up. I know you all want to go home to your families” 

As they walked towards the cars, Guzman phone beeped with a message from Omar; Nadia wanted to see him as soon as he got back. Guzman sighed, nerves ran through his veins as he put the car in drive, not ready to see Nadia properly but also ready to see her again. 

As he walked towards the brown double doors that led to Nadia’s office, Guzman’s palms began to sweat, get it together, he thought as he pushed the door open. His eyes landed on her, she looked stressed and Guzman wanted nothing more to comfort her but he couldn’t, it was not that type of relationship and he wasn’t even sure they were on speaking terms. 

“Guzman” Nadia didn’t look up from what she was reading. 

“Yes Ma’am” Guzman watched as Nadia tensed up at the lack of her name, she put down whatever document she was reading and pushed her hand over temples to rub them to ease the tension that was building up behind her eyes. All she really wanted was a hug from a man she knew she couldn’t have. 

“How did the training go today?” Nadia asked she looked over to where he stood at the door. Eyes back on the wall again, like the months of friendship they had built up was gone, all because Guzman had reacted so badly. “Will it be as bad as you think it will?” 

“Went well Ma’am” Guzman cleared his throat “The area looks secure and I had my team look at every possible blind spot we could have. I am confident enough that if there was anything to go wrong we will have it covered with little disturbance to your event”

Nadia paused before continuing, “Good, the event isn’t for another couple of weeks but I am glad we’re sorting everything out early. It is important to me that it goes off without any problems at all.”

Nadia stood up, she walked over to him; the disappointment that she felt for the fact that he hadn’t looked at her was outstanding. Two days without speaking to Guzman properly were probably the worst two days she’d ever been through. “Guzman”

Guzman took his eyes off the wall to look down at her, she stood just out of reach of him. The goosebumps that made their way up Guzman’s skin as a result of her just being there, he needed to get a hold of himself. They stood staring at each other, neither of them breaking eye contact. Nadia shuffled closer to him, her arms falling to her side as she moved. Guzman didn’t dare to breathe. The tension built up quickly, the way Nadia wanted nothing more to kiss him right there but didn’t move at all. 

“Yes, Ma’am?” Guzman gulped down a breath, both of them wanting to move towards each other; both of them holding back. 

“I miss you” Nadia confessed into the silence, eyes never leaving Guzman. Nadia felt like she was on a cliff getting ready to jump off. 

“Nadia” Guzman breathed out, Nadia didn’t even give it a second guess before she moved. 

Her hands moved to hold his face, pulling him down to her level. She kissed him with everything she had in her, it took Guzman two seconds to realise what was happening before he moved. His lips opened as Nadia swiped her tongue against his bottom lip, Guzman’s hands grabbing her waist to pull her closer to his body. They stood there, allowing each other to explore; Nadia pushed Guzman against the wall as her hands dived into Guzman’s hair, he let out a small moan as she pulled at the strands at the base of his neck. 

Pulling away from her, to catch his breath, Guzman whispered “Shit”

As soon as he spoke, it was like the spell had broken for Nadia. She tore herself away from him, breathing heavily and lips swollen from the kisses. The air around them was thick with tension again. Before either could speak there was a knock on the door and Omar entered the room. 

“Have I interrupted something?” Omar looked between the two, both with flushed faces, Guzman still stood against the wall trying to catch his breath. Nadia took two seconds to reply to her brother. 

“No” Her voice cracked, Omar raised an eyebrow at her “Is there something you wanted?”

“Yeah” Omar walked further into the room, taking his heated glare off Guzman, “Lu told me that you’re not coming out to baba’s house at the end of the month” 

Nadia tensed up at the question, Guzman thinks about how he wants to protect her from whatever was about to happen.

“I can’t” Nadia replied, causing Omar to protest before she even finished the sentence. 

“You know baba is just going to get annoyed at the fact that you haven’t come home in almost a year” Omar argued with his sister.

“In case you haven’t noticed Omar” Nadia looked at her brother, face going hard as she spoke “I have a country to run. It is not like I can just hand the responsibilities over just because baba wants to have dinner together” 

“Nadia” Omar sighed, Guzman watched the siblings exchange words. He noted how Nadia looked everywhere but Omar. “I know you don’t like this time of year but we have to do something-”

“That is enough” Nadai cut him off, she finally looked at him. Guzman wished he was anywhere but there, it wasn’t a conversation he should be apart of. 

“You’re just going to sit here?” Omar asked her, “Be alone with your own thoughts and not let yourself-”

“I said that is enough Omar” Nadia yelled, she felt her flush as she let her anger out all at once. Nadia wanted this all to end, she had too much to think about without Omar coming in and asking about something he knows she will never change her mind about. “I don’t have the time to argue about this with you”

“Right” Omar sneered “But you have the time to kiss your bodyguard”

Nadia stormed over to her brother, the hot white anger she felt at being called out. “I suggest you stop that line of thought before you say something you don’t mean” 

“Nadia” Omar’s voice sounded sad “You know I don’t mean any pain but it's been years since you’ve sat properly in a room with baba, I just want you to have peace that’s all” 

Nadia looked at Omar, pain radiated in his eyes. She knew he meant no harm, the heat of the moment always got the better of him when they argued. Omar was protective of Nadia, all he ever wanted was for her to be happy and he would fight for her when she wouldn’t.

“I know” Nadia nodded, Omar walked over to hug her. “I know, I love you”

“I love you” Omar echoed, his hands resting on Nadia’s shoulders “Even if you do kiss the people you’re not supposed to.”

“Omar” Nadia warned, shooting a look over to Guzman who was staring with such a concerned look on his face. Her heart warmed slightly but she shut that feeling down before she could even think about what it meant.

“Don’t worry,” Omar smiled “I would kiss him too if I was you” 

Guzman felt his face flushed as Omar winked at him as he walked out. Nadia turned to look at him, Guzman walked over to her. He raised his hand to hold her cheek, Nadia leaned into his touch. 

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, eyes searching hers to make sure she was okay. 

“I’m okay,” She said smiling at the taller man “It always gets a little bit heated between Omar and me when we’re talking about our father”

Nadia lifted her hand to hold Guzman’s hand, she gripped onto his fingers. Guzman lowered his head to touch hers, Nadia closed her eyes to let herself be the moment with him. 

“Thank you for caring” 

“Always” Guzman promised, “I always will.”

“Guzman” Nadia started to pull away, “We can’t do that again” 

“I know” Guzman licked his lips, Nadia followed the movement. 

“I’m the Prime Minister,” Nadia said

“I know” 

“It would be such a bad idea” Nadia argued again, Guzman smiled as she walked towards him again, 

“I know”

“We could cause a lot of problems” Nadia replied, a smile forming on her face as Guzman smiled at her.

“Are you going to kiss me again?” Nadia asked.

“If that’s okay” Guzman replied. 

“God, yes,” Nadia said as Guzman’s lips found hers. 

  
  
  


_ Days _ passed with Guzman and Nadia stealing glances at each other, both of them unable to stop having stolen moments whenever they can. Nadia guessed that she was lucky that most of the time it was Guzman and her by themselves, however; today she hadn’t been able to spend five minutes alone with him and she could feel the annoyance grow. All she wanted was to be able to speak to him but instead, she got to sit in her office and watch as the leader of the opposite party sat across her and try to flirt with him. 

“How do you always manage to get the prettiest people around you?” Carla asked Nadia, she tore her gaze away from Guzman to look at Nadia; a smirk making its way on her face. Nadia wanted nothing more but to move the conversation on but it seemed Carla had other plans. 

“I don’t know what you mean” Nadia sniffed, she knew Guzman hadn’t taken a look at both of them since Carla had walked in the room. She knows he tried to stay hidden in the background, seen not heard but she was also aware that he was listening in to everything that Carla is saying. 

“Please” Carla snorted “Even you have to know that he is beautiful”

Nadia narrowed her eyes and didn’t reply to her, Carla carried on anyways; this time addressing Guzman. 

“You know” Carla smiled over at him “If you wanted to work somewhere” Carla paused as she searched for the right word to use “Exciting, you could always come and work with me”

Guzman took his gaze off the wall and flickered his eyes over Nadia before replying to Carla. 

“I’m quite fine where I am, Ma’am” Guzman replied. 

Carla turned around in her seat and spoke to Nadia again, “He calls you Ma’am?”

“He does” Nadia confirmed.

“God” Carla muttered, Guzman was looking straight at Nadia; eyes full of heat making her skin flush. Carla hadn’t noticed, too busy talking about how attractive Guzman calling her Ma’am was. All Nadia could think about was the touch of his lips on hers, Guzman smirked as if he knew exactly what it was she was thinking about. Nadia truly was in over her head. 

“Right” Nadia pulled Carla’s attention away from Guzman “Let’s get to work hm” 

  


Later in the evening, Nadia found herself in her bedroom. She had been getting ready for bed when there was a knock on her door, looking up at her clock to see it read nine fifty; she placed her hijab loosely over her head before walking over to pull the door back.

“Omar, I told you I don’t want to talk about if Ander likes-” Nadia cut herself off when she realised it wasn’t Omar standing outside her door. 

“Oh”

“I can come back?” Guzman said, his eyes trailing up her body to realise that she was in her pyjamas. They both flushed at Nadia’s lack of clothing, she rushed to get her dressing gown to cover herself. 

“No” Nadia tied the clothing together, “No it’s okay”

Guzman’s throat was dry as stood there, she was beautiful no matter what time of day it was and he couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she would be in the morning with the sun’s early light hitting her face, he would bet any amount that a picture would never do her justice. 

“What can I help you with?” Nadia asked, pulling the door open further to let Guzman walk into her room. 

“I just wanted to check that you were okay,” Guzman said, leaning against the dressing table and Nadia felt awkward. 

“Carla is like that all the time” Nadia dismissed, with a wave of her hand. She’s used to her comments now. 

“Sure,” Guzman said, he pushes off the table and walks towards where Nadia stood. “But I asked if you were okay” 

“I’m fine” 

“It’s been an intense few days” Guzman noted, he’s in Nadia’s personal space and it gets her heart going wild again. “Between Omar, your family and Carla” 

“Guzman”

“I just want you to know that if you need to talk to me,” he says, fingers dancing down Nadia’s arm and finally holding her hand. “You can, we don’t just have to kiss in the corner of a room.” 

Nadia held her breath for a minute, digesting what Guzman had just said. She wants to kiss him again but she waits; she knows this is an important conversation to have. 

“I’m tired” Nadia confessed, putting her head on Guzman’s chest as she spoke. “Omar was right, I need to go home and see my father. Carla is a dick for making comments about you and I only ever feel okay when it’s just you and I” 

Nadia stops, she wasn’t supposed to confess to that.

“It’s okay,” he said, squeezing her hand before lifting his to hold her and stroke the top of her head, her curls were peaking through her hijab and Guzman was pretty sure that Nadia might have the softest hair he’s ever touched. “You know I feel the same”

“Guzman” Nadia started but he had moved his face closer to hers, she could smell the aftershave that he had put on that morning invading her nostrils, then ever so slowly his lips met Nadia’s his tongue moving along her bottom lip waiting for her to allow him access. In all truthfulness, Nadia is not sure she had ever been kissed like this before, the way Guzman knew what she wanted before she did; the way his hands moved to places she wanted to be touched, she was so lost in the sensation that she didn’t hear the moans she lets out. 

Guzman pulls away, forehead resting on hers. His eyes closed as he tried to slow his heart rate down, everything he was thinking was just about Nadia. All he could concentrate on was kissing her again but he knew he had to stop because he was not sure where it would go if he carried on. He knew she was not into casual affairs, however, Guzman could put money on whatever this was between them was not casual. 

“We have to stop” Guzman still pants, still not over the feeling of euphoria of Nadia’s soft lips against his. “If we don’t stop, we’ll end up doing something we can’t”

“I know” Nadia clears her throat, “I know”

“Can I lay with you for a while?” Guzman asks her, moving so them both towards Nadia’s bed. Nadia agrees, hands holding his as their heads hit the pillows. She puts her head on his chest, quick to listen to his heartbeat. 

“You have to leave before Lu gets here in the morning” Nadia whispered, Guzman moves to turn the main light off. “If she finds you here, it will be all over the place”

“I won’t be here in the morning” Guzman agreed, Nadia felt herself wanting nothing more than to wake up in Guzman’s arms. “But please know, that I would like nothing more than to wake up with you.”

“Yeah” Nadia agreed, her hand forming a fist on his stomach. “I would like nothing more either.” 

They don’t talk about how Nadia could hear Guzman’s heart beating quicker than it was supposed to and they most certainly didn’t talk about how Nadia fell asleep to that sound alone. They’d gotten good at ignoring things they should talk about. 

  


The days leading up to Nadia event, she felt nervous. Guzman never left her side, always running the plan by her making sure she knew where she had to be and when she had to be there. He reassured her that he would be with her no matter what. In the quiet times when it was just Nadia and Guzman, he would bring her body closer to his and let her rest against him, whispering in her ear that he wouldn’t be anywhere she couldn’t see him.

“Guzman it will be fine” Nadia stressed, her hands playing with the knot in his tie Guzman could feel her fingernails lightly scratching at the bottom of his neck. 

  


“I just don’t want you to be hurt” He spoke softly, hands resting on her waist. Guzman bites his lips as he thinks about all the things that could go wrong. 

“I promise you” Nadia reassured him, pecking him on the lips “I will be okay” 

Nadia, in hindsight, wishes she had listened to Guzman. 

  
  


The crowds were bigger than Nadia ever thought they were going to be, she was in a part of the city where she knew she didn’t have very much support. She knew this was risky, but watching Guzman in the front of the seat next to her driver tense up; she couldn't stop thinking that maybe Guzman had been right and she shouldn’t have been here. She listened as the crowd shouted angry words at her, she could see them gathered at the other end of the street. The car passed and she could hear them shout ‘get her out, get her out’; Guzman turned around to face her. 

“Are you sure?” He asked all Nadia needed to do was shake her head and he would turn her car around quicker than the speed of light, but Nadia was not a quitter, even when she wanted to quit the most. Nadia squares her shoulders and takes two minutes to settle her breathing. She’s got this, she chants over and over again. 

“I’m sure” She pulls her hijab tighter, a nervous tick that Guzman noticed she did whenever she felt like she may not have a handle on something. “I have to do this, for me, Guzman.”

“I know” Guzman replies, he had concern written all over his face. Nadia didn’t know if she wanted him to wrap her up in his arms and let him protect her from whatever she was about to face or not, but she was not a princess and Guzman was most certainly not a prince, no matter what she felt for him, she didn’t need saving by anyone but herself. 

“I’ve got this” Nadia echoed her thoughts, Guzman agreed; he wasn’t worried about her having a grip on the situation, he was more worried about what the people outside might do. The general public was unpredictable on a good day, never mind when you bring a Prime Minister to a place where they’re not as liked. Nadia wanted to mend bridges between the rich and an area of Madrid that felt like they weren’t being seen because Nadia knew what it was like to be ignored by people who were supposed to fight for you. She refused to let people down, not if she could help it not when she had the opportunity to ease some of their pain, hopefully. It was why she decided to hold a question and answer time here. 

Guzman stepped out of the car, moving around to the side where Nadia was; he did a quick scan of the area and checked with Polo that everything was going fine on his side. When he came back to tell him that everything was still going to plan, Guzman opened the door so Nadia could hear the roars of her name. She knew she had more supporters but she wanted to listen to everyone’s concerns, she wanted to know how she could help what her party did. 

“Are you ready?” Lu came up behind where Nadia and Guzman had stood as Nadia waved to the crowd, Lu was already scrolling through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see what people were saying. 

“As I’ll ever be” Nadia smiled out to the crowd, lifting her arm up to wave at people. 

“Do you want to meet them?” Lu asked Nadia turned back to face her before asking. 

“We have time?” 

“We do, not much, but you might as well?” Lu tapped away on her phone, Nadia double checked with Guzman who confirmed that she was good to go; Nadia walked towards where a little girl holding sunflowers stood. She spoke to her, told he she loved her dress and little girl thanked Nadia, telling her she liked her hijab; It was moments like this, when Nadia got to talk to the public and be around them that she remembered why she loved this job, moving on to the next person, Nadia spent as much time as she could with each person before she heard Lu tell her it was time to go in. She thanked the crowd for coming out and walked towards the steps that lead into the building where the event would be taking place. 

Nadia could feel Guzman standing closer to her, “Sunflower is making way into the building” 

She looks back at him, dressed in an all black suit and wearing sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes; all she could think about was how much she wanted him to hold her, she couldn't get the idea of them standing in the private gardens of the Moncloa Palace, watching either the sunset or sunrise out of her head; Nadia didn't mind which one just as long as it’s with him, Guzman stops in his spot.

“Are you okay, Ma’am?” 

Nadia pulls herself out of her daydream, she can see out of the corner of her eye that Lu had been watching her closely; her eyes narrowed in the way that Nadia knows her Chief of Staff is trying to work out something. The moment she meets her eyes, Nadia knew that Lu had figured out. Stepping away from Guzman and closer to Lu to stop her from saying something but Lu beat her to it. 

“No fucking way” She blurted out, arms falling at her side; her mouth hanging open in shock. Lu carried on “How long for? How did I not know? I spend everyday with you! Does Omar know?”

“_ Lucrecia! _” Nadia snarled pulling Lu away from all her questing, looking around the hallway to make sure no one was listening to them. “Please not now”

“I can’t believe it” Lu said in disbelief, she looked over to Guzman who had been frozen in his spot; face growing red as Lu spoke. “Is this allowed?”

Both Nadia and Guzman froze at that comment. 

“What?” 

“Well, Guzman has a duty of care to you; yes?” Lu frowned at Nadia, Nadia felt her heartbeat quicken as Lu explained “Does that now mean he’s compromised? Like he can’t fully protect you because he has other things on his mind”

“It’s not like that” Guzman’s voice cut through their conversation, Nadia felt her heart at the coldness in his voice, however, she forced her eyes to remain on Lu even if all she wanted to do was to turn around and ask him what on earth that meant; But it wasn’t the time, Nadia could see the event host walking towards the trio. 

“Please can we talk about this later?” Nadia addressed Lu, not one minute thinking about what Guzman might have meant by his comment. Nadia didn’t have the time to waste on stupid things said by a man she loved. 

Nadia was halfway through the questions when she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen, she kept searching for Guzman who stood just off the side of the stage, easy for him to get to her if he needed too, his back straight and looking around the crowd. She didn’t know why she was so nervous all of a sudden, she thinks maybe it was something to do with the man in the corner of the room who kept shifting every two minutes. But Nadia reasoned with herself that if Guzman wasn’t worried then she didn’t have to be, she listened to the host ask the crowd who had the next question. It was then when the commotion happened.

If Nadia had been asked what happened that day, she was not sure if she could give an answer. All she remembered was yelling and an object come flying towards her but never met her because Guzman’s body covered her before she could get hit. Nadia had been scared before, of course she had; visiting scary people who had the power to change everything, visiting people in places that were not safe but they still managed to survive, but nothing had made Nadia feel so scared like that moment, her head was tucked under Guzman’s chin as he sprinted out of the room, yelling in his ear piece to Polo; letting the police that had been there arrest him. Nadia doesn’t think she stopped shaking until Guzman slid into the car and told her driver to get them out there as quickly as he could. She didn’t even know if Lu was okay, she didn’t see where she was before everything happened. 

Keeping her head down, she focused on Guzman’s voice trying to figure out what had happened and how it had been allowed to happen. 

“What do you mean you don’t know what it was?” Guzman yelled to Polo, Nadia could feel the tension roll off him in waves. 

“Polo, I need an answer before you come back to base! Ander is going to want to know why the Prime Minister was just rushed out of an event that has been tripled checked” Guzman continued to rant to his second in command. 

Before Nadia could ask, Guzman asked about Lu. 

“Okay, okay” Guzman started to calm down but his body stayed tense “Are you okay Polo? There was no one hurt?”  


Guzman waited for an answer. 

“Okay, get home safe. I will tell the Prime Minister that Lu is safe with you” Guzman paused waiting for Polo to finish “I know, I’m glad no one got hurt either. I’ll speak to you before I speak to Ander, though I have a feeling he might already be at the Moncola” 

Nadia tunes out as soon as she finds out that Lu is okay, choosing instead to hold tighter onto Guzman’s hand. She watched as he laced his fingers with hers and they made their way down the streets of Madrid back home. Nadia wants nothing more than to curl up on her bed with Guzman wrapped around her and listening to him talk about nothing but Nadia had a feeling she would have to wait a while for that.

Pulling into the Palace of Moncloa estate, standing on the steps of the private resident part was Omar; pushing open the door of the car Nadia ran into her brothers arm. Guzman stayed back to let the siblings have a moment to themselves.

“It’s okay, I’m alright” Nadia muttered into Omar’s ear, he’s hands stayed on her waist as they hugged. Omar pulled away to hold out his hand to shake Guzman, Guzman brushed it off and told him he was just doing his job. 

“Even so,” Omar stood in front of him “Thank you so much” 

“No need for thanks” Guzman assured again, he walked up a few stairs; turning his head around to see there was a gathering at the gates. “But maybe we should move on?” 

They both agreed, walking into the building away from curious eyes. After everything had calmed down, Guzman couldn’t help but feel annoyed; he had told Nadia that this was a bad idea, granted he didn’t know it would go like this but this was something she should have stepped down from and sent the Deputy Prime Minister in her place but Nadia had insisted it would be her and her alone. Guzman couldn’t look at her without feeling the wave of annoyance build up again, so staying back as she thanked everyone for her saying they glad she was okay. His phone beeped with a message from Ander demanding he see Guzman because he wanted to know what the hell happened, slipping out of the room; he made his way to face his boss. Guzman couldn’t work through his feelings, he knew deep down what Nadia went through with the event but he was livid that the woman he loved didn’t think it through properly. 

_ Six _ hours had passed since Nadia had seen Guzman, after a quick meeting with Lu and her Deputy Prime Minister; Nadia had put out a press statement thanking the police for their quick work on arresting the man who did this, she made sure to thank Guzman without saying his name, she promised the people that she would be alright but she would be taking next week off and leaving all jobs in the hand of her Deputy. She rang her father seeing that she had twenty missed calls off him and reassuring him that she was fine and she would come and visit him on her week off, no bullshit this time. 

When Nadia took a moment to breath, she found herself back in her bedroom; staring out the window waiting for Guzman to find her like he always did. Watching the leaves fall off the trees, she heard a knock on her door. Walking over to open it, there stood Guzman; still in his suit from today but with no tie. 

“Hey” Nadia reached out to bring him in her room. 

“Hi” 

“How are you?” Nadia asked him, she cocked her head to the side to look at him properly. He looked exhausted. 

“I’m fine” He replied, arms coming up to cross his chest. He was angry, Nadia observed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay” Nadia echoed, she could feel nerves build up, the way Guzman was only giving one word answers was scaring her. She was not sure if she should have invited him. 

“Nadia” Guzman sighed.

“Don’t” Nadia put her hand up to stop whatever he was going to say. 

“No” Guzman argued, unfolding his arms, “We’re going to talk” 

“Guzman I don’t want to hear about how I should have listened to you” Nadia shut him down, moving closer to him, “I just want to be here with you, in this room”

Guzman pulled back, “You could have been killed!”

“That’s over exaggerating the situation” Nadia dismissed Guzman’s comment, not noticing how his anger had turned into hurt.

“Over exaggerating? A person tried to harm you! I did everything I could to stop that from happening but it still happened” Guzman yelled, “If I hadn't made it to you in time you could have been seriously hurt. I can’t believe you’re being so flippant about it!”

“Don’t you think I know that!” Nadia exploded she was shaking, how dare he say that she doesn’t care “I know I could have been hurt, I know we could have been having this conversation in a completely different place. How dare you stand there and try to tell me how to act!”

“I’m not!” 

“Oh really?” Nadia laughed sarcastically, her anger now matched Guzman’s both of them not wanting to back down. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do!”

“I know that!” Guzman yelled back, he ran his left hand through his hair. 

“DO you?” Nadia moved away from him, “This isn’t how this works Guzman, no man will ever tell me what to do”

“It is my job to make sure you’re safe!” Nadia knows logically that he was telling the truth, he was the head of security and the best Spain had to offer but she was angry that he came into her room full of anger, the one place Guzman had always been so soft and warm. “You ignored my advice, you put the woman I love in danger, do you know how scary it is to try and protect you knowing that you put yourself there!”

The room stopped as soon as Guzman realised what he had said, both of them stood there; letting their anger and hurt fizzle out. Before Nadia could speak, Guzman walked out the room. 

  


It had been two weeks since Nadia had seen Guzman, on Monday morning when she went downstairs to the front door instead of seeing Guzman standing waiting for her with her coffee, there was Ander, before she could ask where he was, Ander said he had some personal days he needed to take; 

“He said to tell you, he’s sorry for not giving you the normal week notice but that this was important and he will back soon” Ander said, as they walked down the steps towards the Offices that stood opposite from the private residence. 

“Okay” Nadia agree, she pushed back the emotions she was feeling and stood tall. It was just one day, she could do this. 

However, one day turn into two which slowly turned into two weeks and while Nadia had nothing against Ander, he was no Guzman. He didn’t know how to make her smile during long cabinet meetings, didn’t know how to cheer her up when Carla came to visit her. The two weeks became the longest in Nadia’s life. 

When the second Wednesday came to a close, Nadia was sat on the sofa in her room trying to concentrate on a book but she had been reading the same page for the last twenty minutes when a knock came at her door happened. Nadia sighed as she stood, making her way towards the door. 

“Guzman” 

“Hey” Guzman coughed out, he looked worse than ever before; there was bags under his eyes and his skin looked so dry. “Can I please come in?”

“You can” Nadia pushed the door open so he could walk in.

“We need to talk”

“I’m sorry” Both Nadia and Guzman said at once, smiling at each other as they spoke. 

“You first” Guzman nodded at Nadia.

She swallowed before speaking.

“I should have listened” Nadia started, she looked at him “You were right, I shouldn’t have gone there but I did it anyway because I wanted to prove you wrong; It’s silly I know, but I felt off that day and I should have cancelled the whole thing but my pride got the better of me and then the whole thing happened and I’m just sorry for that and sorry we argued” 

“Nadia,” Guzman cut her off, his eyes looked different Nadia noted. “I’m leaving the position”

Nadia heart dropped all the way to the floor. 

“What?” 

“Lu was right” Guzman started pacing slightly, Nadia moved so she was sitting on her bed looking at him. “I have a duty of care to make sure you’re always safe and never in a position that would make you vulnerable. When we started whatever it was we started, I thought I could do both, sure I liked you a lot and to be able to have those moments with you have been some of my most favourite moments in my life but then that day happened and I was so angry at you, the world and myself” 

Guzman paused before continuing, “I overreacted when I yelled at you, I let what I feel for you overtake my judgement and I should never have done that. I made you vulnerable because I wasn’t paying attention”

Nadia lets his voice filter through her like white noise.

“Enough” 

“What?”

Nadia stood up and walked over to him, she placed her hand on his chest feeling his heartbeat. She let her tears fall from her eyes, they stood there in each other’s company. Nadia was a strong woman but maybe this would end her. Guzman wanted nothing more than to wipe away her tears, to take her in his arms and never let her go but that was not his place and he didn’t think it would be right. 

“It will only ever be you, Guzman” Nadia put her head on his chest, she breathes him in for a moment. She knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind, she knew that these last few minutes with him would be her last. “You have to know that” 

“I do” His arms circled her waist, she sinks into his hold. “I know” 

Standing in a room that was haunted by the memories that they have created together, Guzman places one last kiss on Nadia’s head. His thumb wipes away her tears, she imagined their future they wouldn’t get to have, the memories that they would no longer get to create, for everything that they’d been through, Nadia knew Guzman was the love of her life, she didn’t think she would ever meet a person who captured her heart as much as he did, she pulls back sniffing. 

“I-” 

“Please don’t” Guzman sniffs as well “I know, you know, we both know and that’s enough”

“That’s enough” Nadia pulls away, Guzman slowly lets go of her hand and turns to the door. He looks back at her, there’s tears in his eyes Nadia realises why his eyes looked different. 

“Be safe, Sunflower” 

  


_ Fin. _


End file.
